The LCA provides this sermon edited for lay-reading, with thanks to the original author.
Pentecost 18(Proper 20),Year C
Luke 16:1-13
Jesus was a very down to earth sort of person. As he wandered round the countryside teaching the disciples he would refer them to the birds, and the flowers, or a shepherd minding his sheep, and use them as illustrations to show what God is like. The story about the cheat in the parable for today shows that Jesus also knew a lot about human nature and the ‘seedier’ side of life. Jesus also rubbed shoulders with people we might describe as swindlers. There were cheats like Lazarus, a shady character who collected taxes for the foreign Romans who ruled their country. The locals hated them as traitors. Jesus actually cared about the future of these people too. He would even invite himself into their homes for a meal, as he did with Zacchaeus.
Today Jesus takes a cunning and crooked type of person and says that we should use that shrewd cunning in our relationship with God, and for getting along with our fellow human beings. In the illustration a person of the swindler type is called in to give an account of the way he has been managing the accounts for his boss. He has been cheating people, fleecing them. There is a good description of the rorts they used [in the first reading for today] in Amos 8:4-6:
“Listen to this, you who rob the poor and trample the needy! You can’t wait for the Sabbath day to be over and the religious festivals to end so you can get back to cheating the helpless. You measure out your grain in false measures and weigh it out on dishonest scales. And you mix the wheat you sell with chaff swept from the floor! Then you enslave people for a debt of one piece of silver or a pair of sandals.”
They didn’t care about the poor people. People were there to be ripped off. They valued money more than friends. They were detested but they didn’t care. Other people might not even want to let their children play together.
Zacchaeus was like that before Jesus went into his home for lunch. Zacchaeus had a very small picture of life. He would screw people for every dollar he could get. After Jesus visited him he became a different man. Jesus changed his vision of life. He now saw the big picture that included God and other people. In Luke 19 verse 8 we read,
“Zacchaeus stood up and said to the Lord, ‘Listen sir! I will give half my belongings to the poor, and if I have cheated anyone, I will pay them back four times as much.’”
What a miracle! What a change from a narrow little picture to the big one. Soon he will have some real friends. People will begin to speak the best about him.
In today’s parable Jesus commends the cunning shrewdness of the company manager who is about to get the sack. While he still has the power to manipulate the boss’s customers, he fiddles the books in their favour – and not for his own pocket. He asks, “How much do you owe my master? ‘100 barrels of olive oil,’ he answered. ‘Here is your account,’ the manager told him, ‘sit down and write 50.’”
He soon has friends. They will welcome him into their homes when he loses his job. They will speak up in his favour in the community.
What does this parable mean for us? Who is going to be called in to give an account - and likely to be given the sack as a manager - in this life?
In one sense we are. The generous God gives us access to a wide range of resources – for a time. We are responsible for the way we treat the other people God puts next to us in life. The other people are not only put next to us, but everything we see and touch are loaned to us for a while by God, whether we know this or not. We can pretend it is all ours, and that our neighbours are there for us to take advantage of. It’s every man for himself! Who else will secure our future?
This is the narrow little picture of life. Many people live as though there is no Father in charge who we can trust for our future. The prodigal son is a good example: he shot through with everything he could get out of his father, and then he lived as though it were all his own work, and as though he had no father. He broke off all relationship with his father. He lived in the narrow, little, selfish world.
It is easy to lose the big picture where God is the Father who loves and cares for us. One day everything we manage and care for in this life is going to be taken away from us. Then who will have us?
In another sense, Jesus is the shrewd manager. He comes to us with an offer we can hardly refuse! “Look,” he says, “You are going to be called to account – for your dealing in greed, selfishness and a lack of genuine love for the poor people God put you next to! You have been so busy collecting for yourself you have neglected the poor people. How are you ever going to pay for this selfishness and greed? I’ll tell you what to do. Show me your account - All of your sin and evil, cunning and greed. Give it here to me and I’ll write: “Paid in full by the death of Jesus Christ. Just sign here!”
That is the deal of a lifetime Jesus offers! Go for it. You be shrewd, and take the opportunity of a lifetime. Do it now, before you get the sack and your time is up in this world. Look at the big picture of the God who loves you enough to do a special deal for you. Become a Zacchaeus. Be free to start sharing out what you have received from God. Become a real friend to people. Look at the big picture. You have Jesus as a friend. You have a Father who loves you and cares for you. You can be a friend to other people. Look at the big picture Jesus has made possible for you.
And when you are called to account, you will have a home to go to. Jesus has prepared one for you, because he cares about you more than anyone else does. He is the best friend you and I will ever have.
Amen.
And the peace of God, which surpasses all human understanding, guardour hearts and minds in Christ Jesus. Amen.
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